Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

tylerwoodrownichols I've been interested in multi-level marketing (MLM), AKA legal pyramid schemes, for a while now, so when I heard about this film I knew I needed to watch it. There's a lot to like about it, but there's also a lot to hate. I would have loved for it to focus more on Herbalife itself and its victims. There's a decent amount of information about Herbalife (which is nothing but despicable) and a kind of sub-plot about a group of Latino immigrants who are trying to sue the company for taking advantage of their community. There would probably be more than enough going on there to make for a decent documentary, but instead it focuses too much on the stereotypical "wolf of Wall Street" opportunist (oh wait, my mistake,"activist investor") Bill Ackman and his bid to get rich(er) off of ruining Herbalife's stock. It's clear to me that he's just a sociopath himself who doesn't really care about Herbalife's victims at all, but just sees a situation to exploit for his own financial gain. On one level, I get it. It makes for a very juicy story and everybody wants a "hero" to root for. However, I would rather that hero to have been the actual underdog here, Herbalife's victims. I do think that there is a valuable lesson in the childish quibble between Ackman and his nemesis, fellow Wall Street scum Carl Icahn, about why using the stock market as an indicator of how the economy is doing is basically meaningless for the average person: in reality it's little more than a playground for the ultra-rich, men who are so out of touch with reality or basic human empathy that they put their own egos (oh, and money, did I mention money?) above everything else. It's well-made and will surely keep you entertained, but ultimately it feels hollow and left me hoping for a better documentary about MLM itself, not ego-measuring contests between reprehensible "activist investors".

LF As of October, 2017 - a few months after the premier of this documentary - Herbalife stock price peacefully sits at ~67 USD. I just wanted to start the review with this statement to let everyone know the company is still well and thriving. None should look at this production as the documentary that exposes the dirty cheats that may run a corporation bankrupt or earn them the most thorough federal investigations of all time. My law teacher once told me: everyday people think that courts provide justice for the mass, but it isn't true. What they provide is law. This applies to Herbalife a lot: the way an MLM company operates is clearly unfair and unjust, but none was able to prove so far that it is completely against the law. There may be illegal operations behind the curtain we don't know of yet or 'Betting on Zero' was unable to bring to light, but as far as they are considered clean by the regulators, they go on.However I must praise the documentary for the financial approach. It gives very good explanation on basic terms like shorting, provides a good view of the hedge fund world and reveals why the efficient market theory is far-far away from reality. So in case you want to be the next George Soros, this is a must-watch for you. If you are looking for a documentary where the little men fight to get revenge on big money, then just skip this - Mexican immigrants praying with attorneys will hardly provide you any useful information.

Steve I've been following the Ackman/Herbalife story with amusement for years. This was an entertaining movie to watch, if this was a work of fiction I would give it 7/10. But as a documentary, I hold it to a much higher standard...So, this movie would have you believe that Herbalife is the biggest pyramid scheme in the history of the world. A bold claim indeed! Prove it to me, this movie did not. First, Herbalife sells Billions of dollars in product a year, year after year. That is Billions with a capital (B), real product to real people, apparently not worth mentioning by the film maker. Next, the FTC did an extensive audit of Herbalife, and did not shut them down. You would have me believe that the biggest pyramid scheme in the history of the world can pass an FTC audit? Seriously? Sorry, I find the premise ludicrous. Herbalife was given a fine, and worked with he FTC to clean up it's bad practices. I highly recommend reading the FAQ on FTC.gov on this case before watching this movie.This movie strings together a bunch of hard luck stories with the obvious intent to play on the viewer emotions. The film maker would like you to believe that Herbalife is this evil corporation, and is totally at fault. In my opinion, anyone going into any business is responsible for doing their due diligence. The movie does not explore this simple truth in any meaningful way. The film fails to explore the distinction of where the fault lies, which is to some degree with Herbalife, some degree with the dealers doing the recruiting, and some degree with the new recruits. In my opinion the movie has the blame between the three backwards.The real underlying problem, is age old, runs across every business, in every country, over all time. People will rip other people off for money. Commission sales brings out the worst in people, making exaggerated claims to play on emotions in order to make that sale. The only unique thing here is that the biggest sale get a new recruit, this is the normal business model for all multi-level marketing organizations, not unique to Herbalife at all.The only possible redeeming quality of this movie is that you can watch it with your children and teach them not to be a dumb ass. There are two sides to every story, teach your children to look for both, and avoid being manipulated by a one sided story someone else wants to sell you.See that guy that bought 5 nutrition clubs, well the smart thing would have been to buy one and see how it goes, he has nobody to blame but himself. Here is a guy with a construction business, and allows himself to be sold on hype, did he learn nothing in building his business? Why isn't his construction business successful? Maybe he just doesn't the talent to run a business in the first place. This person has a basement and garage full of product they can't sell, maybe they should have sold what they had first before ordering more. Stupid is as stupid does Forrest.Full disclosure: I have never tried a Herbalife product, and probably never will, I'm not a fan of the direct sell business model. I am very much into nutrition and supplementation. After the FTC ruling, I purchased Herbalife stock, I believe the company is good from an investment stand point.

jdesando William Ackman, quietly charismatic investor and producer of Inside Job, has made a short bet on Herbalife, which he claims is a pyramid scheme benefiting the rich at the top and stealing from the poor at the bottom. Betting on Zero is the fascinating documentary about the battle between equally charismatic Herbalife CEO, William Johnson, and Ackman.The ambiguity comes on two levels: Is Johnson a con man or a brilliant business man? Is Ackman in this game to bring down the price of Herbalife's stock and cause the company to close, or is he looking to make a huge profit (he promises to spread his profit to the poor, mainly Latinos, who bought into the pyramid)? This doc is not as pro-Ackman as you might expect. By tracking him coming to a meeting like a rock star out of a black SUV and increasing skepticism about his motives, it seems to support a balanced view. Yes, Johnson has been part of a management that has made the company worth over $50 billion and many at that high level, millionaires, yet the evidence is that the need for more and more managers merely means more people in the lower levels will never make a buck.As with The Big Short and Margin Call, both about the bad mortgage game, the tension is ripe even though we know the outcome of a potentially nerdy story. However, these stories are all fraught with human drama and educational enlightenment for those of us not versed in financial language and events.These real-life stars carry the moral ambiguity of Shakespearean tragic characters, which, in this case, appear to honor and protect the consumers who buy their products. You will leave the theater with a better understanding of shorting and more than that, a wariness about door-to- door products and slick purveyors.